Blind Intentions
by skyflyte12
Summary: HP/Charmed femHarry. One action of one person sends the future of the wizarding world into chaos; the threads of fate tangle and previously dormant organisations seek to twist this uncertainty to their own ends. One child's life is changed forever.
1. One

Disclaimer: In no way do I own either Harry Potter or Charmed.

Originally Posted: 20 April 2009

Edited/Reposted: 28 November 2009

Note: The 'Harry Potter' Universe has been brought forward 19 years so it can match up with the 'Charmed' Universe. Quite frankly, I can't see the Wizards updating or changing anything in that time, so the only thing that changes is the year - as such, Aiden Lily Potter (the female 'Harry Potter' in my story) was born on the 31 of July, 1999. (Just a heads up to readers)

* * *

Chapter One

**•◊ΰ◊•**

It started as a day just like any other.

A little girl with vivid auburn hair was trailing behind a woman who was dragging a very fat blond boy along behind her. The boy was obviously getting ready to throw a tantrum – his voice was rising as he demanded the sweets that they had just passed in the isle of the supermarket, and the woman was attempting to appease him so as to avoid the scene that he was sure to make in a few moments.

The shoppers all avoided the fat blond boy out of habit – whenever Petunia Dursley brought her son, Dudley, to the supermarket he would scream and yell until he got his way.

It was always very good gossip for the neighbourhood.

The girl was attempting to distance herself from the duo as well – she had slipped off to the vegetable section, where she was guaranteed safety from her cousin's tantrum and was now examining the greenery.

She had been tasked with collecting some potatoes and cabbage for her aunt so that she was out of Petunia's way. Just as she always was when they went shopping for one thing or another. Apparently Petunia couldn't suffer being seen with 'the freak' in public.

This girl was almost six years old.

She was reading the prices on the potatoes when she felt more than saw someone stand behind her. She ignored the presence – there were a lot of elderly women in Little Whinging that liked to coo over how cute she was and how grown up she acted.

And then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She spun around and her eyes widened at the sight of the man behind her.

He was wearing strange clothes – the small girl thought he was wearing a dress, or something very like one, as weird as that sounded. He had flat grey eyes and slicked back white-blonde hair and was wearing a sadistic smile that made the girl step backwards in a bid to escape, only to hit the potato stand and send most of them tumbling into the isle.

The tall man had pulled out a long piece of wood that he pointed straight at the small girl, resting it on the centre of her forehead.

The girl stared soundlessly up at the man with blank eyes, disregarding the wood that the man held in the same manor she had seen when someone was holding a gun.

The last thing she would ever see was the ice cold smirk of her nameless attacker as he said "stupefy."

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Albus Dumbledore looked over his half moon glasses out at the empty Great Hall tables that had held students going about their daily business just days before. It always seemed so desolate without the chatter of students, even though most of the staff elected to stay at Hogwarts during the holiday months.

Minerva was seated next to him and was slowly working through her brunch, her having a fondness for sleeping in as much as possible when no students were around to observe the – dare he think it – normal behaviour that children seem to believe professors were incapable of.

A commotion was caused in the portraits and he turned to watch as Charles Versage, one of the few past Hufflepuff Headmasters of Hogwarts, shoving his way through the portraits and creating general chaos, sending objects flying everywhere.

"Albus!" The blond man shouted, having finally made it within shouting distance of the current Headmaster. "Albus! You've gotta come fast!"

Dumbledore practically jumped to his feet, the stirrings of panic encroaching upon his previously calm mind set. "What is it, Charles?"

The painted man turned back around and started pushing his way back through the chaos he had created, "Hurry, back to your office! The devices are going crazy! Something's wrong with the… er – you know _the_ one!"

Dumbledore's eyes widened even more and his stride quickened noticeably.

McGonagall made to get up but Dumbledore gestured her to sit down even as he kept walking. He said, "Don't worry, Minerva. It's peeves – he has broken into my lemon drop supplies again. I have to stop him before he gets away with them."

Minerva's eyebrow arched as she shook her head in exasperation. She should have known that Albus Dumbledore _would_ think it was an urgent situation when the poltergeist got into his candy supplies.

The only question was how did he convince Charles to look out for them?

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Dumbledore reached his office in record time. When he got into his office, he was worried to see that the instruments tasked with monitoring the position of Aiden Potter were disabled – that meant that a wizard had either taken her under a concealment charm or performed the relatively hard counter to the spell that bound her to the monitor. The one that monitored her health was also flashing and whining, meaning that someone was using dark curses on her – extremely dark curses if it was to be believed.

He rushed over to the one that recorded her location and fiddled with a few of the dials. It looked like she had been taken off the monitor, which was annoying because it was impossible to set up without the informed consent and help of the subject or a blood parent. Now _that_ wasn't good for his future plans.

He pressed a button and a line of glittering red text sprung from the enchanted object, and it spelled out, 'LAST SEEN IN SUPERMARKET IN LITTLE WHINGING, SLIDE-ALONG APPARATED AWAY TO UNKNOWN LOCATION.'

His eyes widened – this was not good.

He turned to Fawkes and held out his hand, asking for the phoenix's help.

The phoenix consented and lifted off his perch, swooping down to clutch the old Headmaster's arm and proceeded to fireflash them to a location in Little Whinging that was clear of onlookers.

He arrived in an alley that was near the supermarket and Fawkes left in another flash to avoid being spotted. He transfigured his clothes and stepped out of the alleyway.

As he approached the muggle store he noticed that there was a commotion – that meant that someone had probably seen the kidnapping and panicked because of the use of magic. He better clean this up fast before it got out that Aiden Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, was kidnapped because he would be discredited and it meant that he might be prevented from putting her back with the Dursleys – she _needed_ to be there for the greater good, so that she'd fight Voldemort in the future and be prepared to sacrifice herself!

The doors slid open and Dumbledore immediately spotted the contingent of Aurors that stood out in their wizarding robes, obliviating shocked bystanders.

It looked like this wasn't going to be able to be hushed up.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

_**Girl-Who-Lived Kidnapped by 'innocent' Death Eater**_

_**The Daily Prophet, 28 June 2004**_

_The Wizarding World was shocked yesterday when Albus Dumbledore and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement discovered that Aiden Potter, famous for her defeat of the Dark Lord as a one year old infant and her simultaneous survival of the fatal Avada Kedavra curse, had been kidnapped out of the muggle suburb of Little Whinging yesterday morning. _

_She had been in the care of her muggle relatives as protection against any surviving Death Eaters or devout followers of You-Know-Who. Wizards have always believed that she was adequately protected against retaliative actions but this was obviously not true. _

_The magic that the Death Eater in question used to subdue Miss Potter alerted the Department of Magical Law Enforcement due to the blatant and serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy, and the muggle-born member of the team, Hayley Sikes, suggested something that would shed some light on the crime. The DMLE squad surveyed the surveillance video (a muggle piece of technology that records situations) to find that none other than Lucius Malfoy, an excused Death Eater due to allegedly being under the Imperius Curse, had stunned and proceeded to kidnap the Girl-Who-Lived._

_Massive public outcry against Bartemis Crouch and Cornelius Fudge's poor handling of the Malfoy case has forced the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Wizagamont to review each and every arrest that was made in the aftermath of the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in conjunction with the mandatory use of Veritaserum and truth spells. Muggle-born wizards and witches have taken the places of many purebloods that have been recently uncovered as voluntary former Death Eaters that evaded Azkaban by bribing law enforcement officials. Trials are still in pending for current Azkaban inmates, but we are told they will all be held by the end of the month._

_The huge mistakes in the trials of alleged Death Eaters have hit Minister Fudge hard, and Wizarding Britain is pushing for a vote of No Confidence at the next Wizagamont session to oust the obviously corrupt and negligent Ministry head._

_All we can do now is hope that the Aurors find Lord Malfoy before permanent damage can be inflicted upon Aiden Potter. When they find him, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be punished to the very extent of our laws – nothing will be held back when prosecuting this particular piece of scum that _dared_ to attack the little girl that made it possible for us to live without constantly having to look over our shoulders because we were at risk of being murdered in our beds due to some unfounded blood discrimination. _

_He will be made an example of as a warning to those who would follow in _Voldemort's_ footsteps. _

_Britain _will not_ tolerate terrorists._

_Renee Gardner_

_Also of interest: _'Fudge's Farce – Why he's NOT fit to be Minister' _by Kyle Frankston page 2, and Records of recent Death Eater trials, pages 3-18. _

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Drip

Drip

Drip

All that she had was the all-consuming darkness that had been her prison ever since she was taken out of the supermarket in Little Whinging.

Aiden had no idea how much time she had been where she was – it could have been hours or days; it was impossible for her to tell.

All she knew was that the blond-haired man had pointed that piece of wood at her and said a lot of nonsense words that had made her eyes burn and throb so that she could only whimper in pain. It felt like her eyes were burning out and though she could feel with her fingers that they were still there, but she had not been able to see anything ever since the pain.

There had been more pain after that.

Pain that had her screaming and begging for the torture to stop.

One word would be imprinted into her mind forevermore.

When that voice snarled _'Crucio'_ there was more pain than she could have ever imagined. It felt like hot knives were being stabbed into every part of her body and simultaneously being extracted before they were replaced, and neither part of the cycle brought anything but more pain. The pain had laced her spine and muddied her mind to the point that she could not remember who she was or that there once was life outside of the pain.

It never dulled like intense pain usually did after you had experienced it for prolonged periods of time; that first knife slashed just as harshly as the one after it and the one after that and unconsciousness was not offered as a reprieve.

Aiden learnt that the pain had no visible effect on her body apart from the total exhaustion that had gripped her when blessed with reprieve and the left over pain that was a dull ache compared to whatever happened to her when the cruel man had said 'crucio' – whatever that word was, she would always associate it to the all-encompassing pain that she had experienced.

Aiden was preoccupied with her lack of sight. She had pressed herself against a hard surface and curled herself into a ball, hugging her legs. The only thing she could count the passing time by would be the drips of something – she assumed it was water – falling in a steady pattern.

But her world was devoid of light. She spent a lot of the time thinking over the places and things she had seen – now that she may never be able to see again, she clung to those bright images in her mind and found that they helped against the void of darkness.

She was afraid to move lest she bump into something so that ruled out any escape attempt – she had learnt how to pick locks so she could escape the Dursley's cupboard to steal food from the fridge when she was denied – also the fact that she couldn't see the lock to pick it.

Hunger was a steady ache in her stomach but it wasn't bothering her overmuch; she was used to being hungry, she already knew that it was survivable.

No sound disturbed the steady dripping that echoed in the cold room.

Drip

Drip

Drip

**•◊ΰ◊•**

_**Lucius Malfoy Caught and Kissed**_

… _**but no sign of Girl-Who-Lived**_

_**The Dusk Edition of the Daily Prophet, 29 June 2004, 19.30**_

_Wanted criminal Lucius Malfoy was detained just after two o'clock in the afternoon today at the Malfoy Manor at the cost of three lives – in a highly destructive magical battle, Malfoy murdered two Auror trainees who had only recently graduated from the intense three-year course. Jainey Blake and Greg Hopper were under supervision of veteran Aurors Michael Jiks and Greg Tibbs when Malfoy started firing off the killing curse like it was a tickling charm and the Jr. aurors were hit in the initial confusion._

_The third casualty from the confrontation was Lucius' wife Narcissa Malfoy, née Black, who Malfoy reportedly held under Imperius in an attempt to Obliviate any evidence of his crimes from himself in a bid to plead innocent of charges. He murdered the Lady Malfoy when it became apparent that there was no way he would have the time and concentration to perform the memory charm successfully, only managing to wipe the details of the place in which he was holding Aiden Potter as a last gibe at Law Enforcement officials._

_The trial that was conducted a mere half hour later uncovered the extent of the Malfoy's crimes against Britain, as well as the Wizagamont members he successfully bribed in order to escape Azkaban, all of which have been taken into custody for trials of their own, although it is unlikely they will make it to the notorious Azkaban prison, it being more likely they will be sequestered in the high security Flakarta Bay prison that is policed solely by centuries old spells, the most notable of which were cast by Merlin himself to ensure that convicted felons did not escape before their term ended._

_The last Malfoy left alive is the young Heir, Draco, who is six years old and currently being cared for by Amelia Bones herself due to the lack of a clear next of kin. There have already been many offers from prominent pureblood families to adopt him, and this reporter speculates that they wish to get their hands on the infamous Malfoy fortune. Madame Bones has been noted of saying that all possible adopting families will be thoroughly examined to ensure that young Draco will not be put into the wrong hands._

_Renee Gardner_

**•◊ΰ◊•**

There had been no one else for what seemed like a lifetime.

To Aiden, it felt like she was the only person in the whole world, like no one could intrude upon her own black void and reach her. A small part of her wished that someone – _any_one would come and brake the total silence that was smothering her, even if it was to be the monster of a man that had taken her from little whinging.

The only sound was the constant dripping.

It was enough to drive her insane… if she wasn't already, that is.

She knew that she had slept a few times at least, and couldn't be sure how long it had been. She knew that she was cold, hungry, blind and hurting.

Not exactly looking good for her.

The reason she thought that she may be insane is because, even though she knew she could not see, the blackness was starting to look… weird. Pieces were becoming darker and other lighter, but still everything was black… it was extremely strange and the black seemed to follow the walls of the room. There was a piece of black shaped like a door handle, but that thing had a… 'sparkle' to it. The sparkle gave off the feeling of 'locked' (however impossible that seemed) and was a grey that swirled with hate and malevolence, just like she had recognised in that evil man.

The black shapes were coming into sharper focus.

A world of different 'types' of black and she had no idea if she was imagining it or not… but she knew that time was running out if she wanted to get out of this prison alive.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

_**Sirius Black found Innocent!**_

_**The Noon Edition of the Daily Prophet, 2 July 2004**_

_A shocking trial early today of convicted mass murderer Sirius Black, who has spent the last five years in the wizarding prison Azkaban surrounded by dementors, as innocent of the betrayal of Lily and James Potter as well as the murder of Peter Pettigrew. It has been found that Peter Pettigrew framed Black before transforming into his illegal animagus form – a rat – and escaping into the sewers. If anyone has had a common island rat that is larger than average and missing a toe, we urge you to floo call the DMLE after locking it in an unbreakable charmed cage. It has been speculated that he would be staying close to the Wizarding world to keep an ear out for the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and be careful not to alert him prior to attempting to apprehend him._

_The wizarding public was shocked when truth came to light through use of Veritaserum at the Wizagamont trial. This case has become the shame of the Wizagamont. It has been found that Sirius – a member of the Ancient pureblood line of Black – was denied a trial and sent straight to Azkaban, even though he repetitively said that he was innocent of crimes._

_This case, even more than the trail that Lucius Malfoy bribed his way through, has unshaken Britain's faith in its magical government. If Sirius Black, a member of a respected pureblood line, can be falsely convicted and sentenced to arguably the worst place on Earth – the high security section of Azkaban prison – without even a trial, what can the average witch or wizard expect to deal with when accused of a crime?_

_The wizarding population is in uproar against this serious miscarriage of justice and is demanding a better system of dealing with accused criminals. Recently appointed Head of the DMLE, Madame Amelia Bones, in conjunction with her second in command, Leonis Travers, have proposed amendments to the way we try accused criminals that are based off muggle systems and it is predicted that they will be passed with little protest because of the astonishing help that muggle creations had in determining Aiden Potter's kidnapper._

_Hopefully, these amendments will update our justice system and remove the ease at which criminals could bribe their way through charges. It is predicted that the system will be fully functional within ten years. _

_On the subject of Justice, Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges, started on heavy potions and chocolate rehabilitation sessions to get him back memories lost to the dementors and granted a hefty sum in compensation, even though he has repetitively said that the only thing he really wants is for the DMLE "…to get off their lazy arses and find my God daughter!" _

_In relation to relatives, Mr Black has accepted the role of guardian of the last Malfoy and Heir to the Malfoy fortune, Draco Malfoy. As readers will know, Lucius Malfoy was captured the day after he kidnapped Aiden Potter, who has still yet to be found but is known to have been put through the cruciatus curse and the extremely dark locked blinding curse – a curse that can not be cured and basically irrevocably renders the victim's optical nerves useless through the destruction of key neural pathways that are required to get the message to the brain. _

_Aurors were unable to obtain the location of the Girl-Who-Lived because Mr Malfoy had ordered his wife to obliviate the information from him when it became apparent that his true loyalties were revealed to the general public. Regular readers will also remember the scandal that resulted just before Lord Malfoy was captured – he murdered his own wife, Narcissa Malfoy, along with two fresh Auror trainees, Jainey Blake and Greg Hopper. He was later executed through the Dementor's Kiss. _

_All this left Sirius Black as the closest blood relative of Draco Malfoy and despite other offers from pureblood families to take in the young heir, he has precedence. He has been reported to have said jokingly that he wanted to continue his own tradition of raising a Gryffindor out of a family that has been in Slytherin for generations, as he himself had been the 'white sheep' of the Black family._

_Either way, the Wizarding World is demanding a full update of Britain's Ministry of Magic and this reporter thinks that it is well overdue._

Renee Gardner

_For the current list of recently convicted Death Eaters, go to page 13_

_For a more detailed version of Sirius Black's trial, go to pages 16-23_

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Red wine swirled around the glass as long fingers tipped the glass up to drink. Eyes slid shut as the warm liquid trailed down her throat.

"It's going our way."

The wine glass was set on the table, and the woman leaned back in her chair languidly, humming in agreement. "We have been fortunate."

The man across from her nodded, "Yes, and the British Ministry of Magic is finally starting the process of updating and lifting out of the stagnate rut they have found themselves in."

The woman's lips moved down as she eyebrows creased into a frown, "It's just sad that the kidnapping and torture of a five year old girl was what we were able to use to set things into motion."

The man leaned across the two-person table and smoothed out the lines on her face, "Hush. We had nothing to do with that, and you know that this will make a better future for all wizards and witches in England. It was an opportunity that we could not pass up – the first time in decades that such a perfect window of opportunity had opened. They are finally starting the process of updating, and we all know that it will be years before the changes truly make a difference. We can only hope that Aiden Potter will be found alive."

Lips quirked and the woman hailed a waiter, "I think I'm going to need more alcohol."

The man sighed and leaned back, lightly rubbing his temple. He muttered, "Don't we all?"

**•◊ΰ◊•**

The situation was desperate for our little five year-old.

Aiden was dealing with what she _knew_ had to be a total hallucination, but at that moment she couldn't bring up enough common sense to give a damn – as long as she could get _out_ and _eat _something she wouldn't care.

The 'World of Black' as she had taken to calling it in her head, had come into sharp focus. She just couldn't explain it – it was kind of like seeing, except it wasn't… ok, that just sounded bizarre. What she could… 'sense' was the 'shape' of everything – as far as she could tell – in the room. There was no light at all, the only way she could explain it would be parts of the black felt different – different strengths. It was strange as it didn't matter what direction she was facing, she could 'sense' everything around her, and she could swear that she could 'feel' outside the room and down the corridor as well. No one had passed if that was true.

The only reason she was considering moving was because she had stood up and moved to different parts of the room, feeling physically for the parts of the blackness that she could 'feel' in place of being able to see, and it matched up with the door handle and a few crates that were in the room.

She had gone insane, but it was hardly the right time to bemoan the fact when it could help her escape.

She was standing at the door, 'looking' curiously at the collection of 'sparkles' that was shrouding the handle. The sparkles felt warm to the touch.

She groaned and leaned against the door, allowing her head to fall against it with a gentle 'thump.'

She rasped to herself sarcastically, "Now if only I could just walk through walls, my insanity would be complete."

After she had finished that sentence, low and behold, she found herself squeaking as she 'pushed' through the previously solid door. She ended up flat on her back, sightlessly gazing up at the ceiling and could help but burst into hysterical laughter.

After managing to contain the highly inappropriate giggles, Aiden pulled herself to her feet and just followed the way that the black world 'showed' her was to the way out, and gained a bit of confidence when she felt the breeze through the room growing – maybe a door had been left open?

She totally ignored physical boundaries like the walls and doors, acting on the somewhat logical (for her situation) decision that since she had done it once, she could do it again – it was somewhat easier to accept the spontaneous talent of walking through solid objects that it was to 'see' a world that was totally leached of colour, that only offered a black oblivion and yet still somehow accurately reflected her surrounds and yet was beyond the limitations of actual eyesight.

With just a thought she could feel herself flitting through what the blackness showed her were walls on the most direct route to the outside.

When she was more or less certain she had made it outside of the large house that had been her prison for who ken how long she was momentarily shocked at what the blackness showed her.

She felt the warmth on her skin that indicated it was day-time but there was still no light to bleach the world of black that consumed her. But what she _could_ 'see' with this new sense amazed her all the same. The world of black was sharp in the outlines of trees that she knew stood very close together. She also knew that there was an array of animals that inhabited the forest, from the small snake winding its way through the undergrowth five metres away to the large hawk that trailed in the sky, its eyes locked on a mouse that was making a frantic bid for cover about twenty trees north.

There was a circle of 'vision' in this world of black that would be about one hundred metres in diameter, and it seemed to be that the further away something was, the 'fuzzier' it was to her 'sight'. It was strange that she hadn't really noticed how far it went when she was inside that prison, but she could 'see' now that she house practically danced in sparks, each giving off a different feeling, most for hiding and misdirection – she had a feeling that could have muffled the blackness although she didn't know _why_.

She stumbled backwards when a sudden burst of sparks that resembled flames more closely (and felt malicious to her) appeared a few yards away. She knew there was no chance that she would have seen it had she been relying on actual vision – the blackness showed her there were large trees that blocked it from sight range. The person didn't _feel_ normal to her, even though she had nothing to compare him against, what with being new to the world of black thing.

It was obvious to her that he came with ill intensions and Aiden span around and sprinted off in the opposite direction, her heart contracting as she 'saw' him quickly break his cover and sprint after her.

There really was no chance of escape.

The very tall man had very long legs that easily caught up to her short legs and he grabbed the back of her jumper, easily stopping her in her tracks.

Aiden saw the vicious sharp-toothed grin he shot her although her sightless eyes remained facing forwards. "Who a-are you?" She gasped out, feeling the exhaustion from her time imprisoned come washing back now that the adrenalin and shock of escaping had worn off.

Even a five year-old found that his response of "You're worst nightmare" was terribly cliché.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

_

* * *

_

I didn't intend to publish this, but I figured I may as well.

_Well, please review and if I get a lot of interest, I guess I'll continue to write this._

_Skyflyte12_


	2. Two

Disclaimer: In no way do I own either Harry Potter or Charmed.

Originally Posted: 1 June 2009

Edited/Reposted: 28 November 2009

* * *

Chapter Two

**•◊ΰ◊•**

_**San Francisco, Halliwell Manor**_

Piper rubbed her temples, "Chris, were you _absolutely sure_ that that demon was the important one? The one that turned Wyatt evil?"

The neurotic half-whitelighter paced and dragged a hand through his hair agitatedly, "Of _course_ I'm not sure! How the hell am I supposed to know what goes on inside my future evil brother's head? All I know is that they had the power to change his personality – Good to Evil. That could be fairly helpful in converting a supposed future paragon of goodly virtue into the future devil spawn he turned out to be, huh?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "All I know is that we can't go around killing every demon that has powers that deal with changing personalities – that's pretty standard the way demons go – ya know, pillage, plunder, slaughter innocents and all that jazz."

Chris raised an eyebrow and stared at his mother, "…Since when do you say 'all that jazz'?! Are you alright, or am I going to have to get the Book of Shadows out to exorcise a demon?"

Piper rolled her eyes and strode into the kitchen, intent on cooking a proper meal for once.

"Shut up. I'm pregnant, not taken over by sarcastic demons. Now get _out_ because I want to cook without having to worry about a demon springing us out of revenge for one of his buddies you offed in your apparent mission to rid the world of them – I'm telling you, we've been doing this for a _very_ long time and they just aren't _ever_ going to be gone, nor will they suddenly stop killing and take up knitting – it's in their nature. So you've got babysitting duty with your supposed future evil brother while I do this."

Chris sighed dramatically and eyed his future older brother, who was currently drooling on his toy blocks in the living room. "Fine. But you really should be taking this more seriously, Piper. I mean, it's _your _son who gets turned evil."

Piper ignored the jab at her mothering abilities – they had been through this argument enough times that they could probably repeat the other's points and reverse it, still coming out with exactly the same lines.

She grinned at the clean kitchen – it had been practically _forever_ since she had been able to cook without interruption, and she was looking forward to it.

She was reaching for the fridge when… "PIPER! CHRIS! We've got a problem!"

Piper groaned. This was just _not_ her day. Without turning around, she said dully, "So what's the problem?"

Phoebe barrelled into the house frantically and stopped roughly halfway between Piper and Chris, and the look on her face caught their attention far more effectively than the fairly standard shout that usually meant demon troubles. "I had a vision, and not a good one."

Phoebe dumped her handbag on the table and took a deep breath, apparently to centre herself. "We have to call Paige – we've got a nasty demon to hunt. I'm pretty sure he's an Upper level. He's got this group that kidnapped a lot of kids from over the world. The thing is, they're all children of ages five to fourteen. He's got them in the Underworld, and none of the kids look like they're totally ok."

Piper gaped and a hand went to her mouth in horror – to have your child kidnapped, and by demons? A parent's worst nightmare.

Chris was carrying Wyatt awkwardly in his arms and his eyes narrowed after he heard about Phoebe's vision. "I think I heard something about that, but I don't think it came to your attention before." He frowned pensively before his eyes widened, "You _have_ to save those kids."

Phoebe blinked at the vehemence in his tone, "Is there something we should know about that happens to those kids?"

Chris blinked and seemed to come back to the present, "No. As long as you get them back to their parents, you don't have to worry about them."

Chris turned around abruptly and made for the stairs to the attic, still carrying his older brother.

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks before making for the stairs. There was obviously something about this particular demonic plot that struck a chord with Chris.

And they wanted to find out what.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

When they reached the attic it was to find Chris rifling through the Book of Shadows, having put Wyatt in the playpen.

They saw him stop and stare at a particular page, noticing that his shoulders tensed as he did so.

Phoebe shot a look over her shoulder at Piper before striding over to look at the page. "The Commander? Not exactly a very demonic name. Usually they're at least partially original."

It was very telling that Chris didn't crack a grin at the poor joke.

Piper looked over the page to see the demon. He was definitely an Upper Level, and it seemed he had a fair amount of sway in the underworld. She read, _"The Commander generally takes magical children from their parents that have a large potential and raise them to be demons, perverting them until they become his perfect 'troops'. It is highly specialised and he twists their minds so they cannot do anything against him. He had had his powers bound, but if he manages to get a witch or wizard to release them, he requires to Power of Three to be vanquished for good."_

She frowned at the page in contemplation, "Sounds like a nasty bastard. Taking little kids and turning them into hit-demons."

Chris looked drawn and Phoebe decided to call him on it, "It looks like you knew him in the future...?"

Chris sighed and rubbed his temples before saying reluctantly, "Yeah. Wyatt 'hired' the nasty sonovabitch and his 'troops' to act as his bodyguards – we've never seen any demons as good as they were. We really have to get these kids away from him; they deserve more then becoming his slaves and Good really can't afford to have enemies as effective as they were."

Phoebe knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but let it drop. From the way he looked, those kids had become more than just evil Wyatt's 'bodyguards', but it was probably better to leave it alone.

Piper was still frowning at the description though. "Hey, what do you think it means about a witch or wizard releasing him? We all know witches are Good, but wouldn't wizards be more likely to leach his powers? Chris, do you know anything about this?"

Chris blinked and looked at his mother blankly. A grin appeared on his face soon after and he smirked, striding out of arms reach of Piper as he did so. "You don't know?" He asked incredulously.

Piper crossed her arms defensively and scowled at her future son, raising her brow questioningly, "Of _course_ I don't know! What did you think, I was omnipotent and knew _everything_?! Hell, leave the all-knowing to those stupid Elders! So just get off the humour and get on with the explanation-giving already!"

Chris, still sporting a small grin, said, "Sorry, it's just you always seem to know everything under the earth and on it about magic, so when I manage to find something that you don't know about it's surprising is all. Especially when you were the one to introduce me to the first one I met."

He paused, taking in the two blank expressions with a type of childish-like joy that you didn't normally see in the usually stoic and brooding half-whitelighter. He shook his head and schooled his face into something more professional and said, in a tone that made it clear he was quoting something he had heard, "Ahem. There are magic users that have a different type of magic to us – our magic is linked to the Earth and the Scales of Balance, which makes it more potent and also more fraught with consequences – which is why we temper our magic use and are not allowed to use it for personal gain, but we also have specific active powers, which they do not… generally."

He paused for a second to let them assimilate that information before continuing, "The other type of human magic users have their own magical cores, (instead of drawing from the earth and our ancestry, like we do) which they can manipulate with the use of a wand – although it's possible to train themselves to use magic without the wand, which only acts as a magical conduit. They have their own communities which they hide from non-magical people. They have their own laws and Ministries that police the populations. The last thing that may be useful is that there are two types of magic – Light and Dark – which are in a struggle that mirrors Good and Evil in our world. The thing about that is that the Ministries generally classify spells under 'dark' that actually aren't and only because of the high power needed or the effects the spells could have which would help them to hide from the law."

Phoebe and Piper were staring at him in abject shock. Piper spluttered out, "How in the _hell_ could there be another community of magical people and we _not_ know about it?! That's just insane!"

Phoebe snorted and waved her hand around, "Yeah, talk about 'embracing the cliché!' God, I thought it was bad enough way back when – you know, when I rode a broom on All Hallows Eve! Wand-waving Wizards! Huh, I'll believe it when I see it."

Chris was grinning to himself, "You riding a broom? That's a new one, Phoebs. But actually, these magicals have turned broomstick riding into a sport. They call it 'Quidditch', though _I_ haven't seen a game, what with leading the rebellion against Wyatt."

They were staring at Chris like he was insane at this further admission. The sound of someone clearing their throat came from the doorway, causing them to spin around as one to see Paige who was looking like she had been there for the explanation. "Well hello to you too." She said sarcastically before raising a questioning eyebrow, "So why did we have to learn about wizards and witches who apparently have a secret community and embrace clichés? Was there a general point to this, or was Chris just feeling like handing out fun-facts?"

Piper, Phoebe and Chris stared at each other for a moment blankly before Piper clicked her fingers, "Oh yeah. Basically, Phoebe had a vision of a nasty demon that was kidnapping kids to raise as his demonic army, and said demon _had_ had his powers bound but apparently they were _un_-bound by one of those wand-wizards. Er… anything else to add?" She glanced over at Chris and Phoebe, questioning.

Chris nodded soberly, "Yeah, most of the kids he took last time were future 'wand-wizards', though some were good witches."

Piper looked over at Wyatt before sighing, "Well, we best be going a-vanquishing then, huh? Maybe we can get this done in time for dinner…?"

Chris nodded, "I think I know where his lair/training facility is – as long as you guys are ok, this should be pretty much open and shut."

The three sisters exchanged glances and nodded – the sooner this creepy kidnapping demon was out of the game, the better they would feel.

So they planned.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Aiden was thrown roughly on the ground and, after getting over the odd feeling of vertigo that was the result of the 'sparkle travel' as she had named it for herself, she was able to examine where she was.

It was immediately obvious that they had moved far away from the forest that she had been in moments before. The blackness showed her it looked like a cave, with torches for light. She only knew that because the darkness crackled like a flame on top of the torches – she thought she was getting better at interpreting the different 'feelings' of the black.

She also noticed that she wasn't alone.

There was a collection of children in the cavern – she counted thirteen, including herself, and there were tall 'evil' feeling people stalking near the walls of the cavern. She guessed that the kids couldn't see their guards, mainly because the group seemed to have been talking amongst themselves before she had been abruptly transported in.

The man that had forced her to this place sneered at the children and threw her into them. She was grateful that the oldest of them – four fourteen year olds – caught her before gently setting her on her feet. He drawled, "Didn't I tell you to shut up?! You snivelling brats had better be quiet unless you want to attract the… _displeasure _of the Commander. I'll tell you now that you bloody-well don't wanna find out what he'd do to you if that happened! I'll be back later." And he disappeared with a crackle of sparkles in Aiden's 'vision'.

The very tall (for her) kids around her all looked at her once the immediate threat had left. She was obviously the youngest there – the second youngest was about nine, Aiden estimated, so he was still almost double her age. She felt extremely self-conscious and shuffled her feet, turning her sightless eyes to the ground.

"Who are you?" The tallest by asked, the sharp question contrasting with his soft tone.

She didn't bother turning her head, seeing as it wouldn't make any difference. "A-Aiden."

She was intimidated by the fact that she was about half the size of the smallest of the boys, not to mention that she just realised she was the only girl.

The tall boy knelt down to her eye level and softly grasped out for her chin. He forced it up so that she looked into his eyes, and the blackness let her 'see' that the boy gasped and stumbled back from looking in her sightless eyes.

This unusual reaction, of course, prompted the others to crowd in to get a look. She could see all of them shudder and flinch back. She felt sad, "Do… do they look that bad?" She asked in a small, hesitant voice.

She 'saw' the first boy move up to her, looking at her eyes. She could see he looked horrified, probably disgusted as well, and she felt a tear slip down her cheek as she dropped her head. The boy caught her chin and pulled it up, wiping the tear away. His voice was rough as he asked, "What happened to you?"

Aiden's arms wrapped around herself in an unconscious effort to become smaller, to present less of a target. The blackness told her that there was only one watcher, and she could speak quietly without him hearing. She whispered, "The Bad Man. He did something, and now I only see black. There was… pain. A lot of that."

The boy was still horrified. He asked, "Are you… blind?"

The girl couldn't hold in the sob as she repeated quietly, "I can only see the black."

The boy dropped to the ground and folded his legs, pulling Aiden down into a reassuring hug as he whispered, "Shhh, it's okay. Everything will be okay. My parents will look for us – there's gotta be magic that will find us and save us from these demons – whitelighters can find people that are linked to their charges, and my mom's got one."

Aiden's brows furrowed and she asked softly, "Magic?"

The other boys had crouched down around the two, some even sitting around them, obviously responding to age-old instincts of protecting someone who was obviously more vulnerable than you were. Aiden saw the boy that was running his fingers through her hair calmingly share a look with another older boy before glancing down at her hair.

He said, "Yes, magic. Don't you know about it? I'd have thought you'd know – you've certainly got enough of it."

Aiden was so startled that, through habit, her head raised to seek out the boy's eyes before she realised it would make just about no difference seeing as she could only see the black where his eyes were. She noticed that he seemed to flinch as her sightless eyes stared _through_ his but repeated softly, "Magic's real?"

The boy that was now behind her head stared at her in blatant shock. The oldest boy nodded, but Aiden guessed that he had remembered she couldn't see and quickly added verbally, "Yes, of course. How else do you think you got here? Walking?"

Aiden allowed her head to drop, and she noticed the boy that was comforting her relaxed. She couldn't help but ask hesitantly, "What do my eyes look like? You're afraid of them."

The last part that probably should have been a question was stated and the boy seemed to flinch. He answered, though, "They're… they are black. Where they should be a colour – your iris – it's black. It's… kind of like… looking into a void. It's probably what you see. It's… unsettling that they are flat, as well."

Aiden frowned and bit her lip, putting her face in her hands. "They were green." She said simply.

He didn't say anything, just ran a hand through her hair.

After a while of quiet, she broke it by asking, "Who are you?"

The boy's eyes had been drifting shut, but at the question he seemed to jolt awake. Aiden guessed he looked around at the others and realised that most of them were asleep before leaning in to whisper, "I'm Jason."

She nodded before closing her eyes.

It was about time she got to sleep after the emotional rollercoaster she had been on for the last week or more. And somehow, she felt as though she was old. Older than the boys in the room – she drew comfort from Jason, but she could see how scared they were, how this was an entirely new and terrifying experience for them. Hell, she even thought most of them was scared of the _dark_ – she had been shoved and locked into a cupboard for most of her short life; she knew what it was like to be held captive and be denied the essentials to living.

It was sad that she was so, but she knew that she _would_ survive – she had to survive, if only to experience the other side of life – the _good_. There was no way she would _not _see it, if only to prove to herself that she had not suffered for no reason.

That was what she told herself, promised herself, every time; she would survive, if only to spite those who wanted to stop her.

Certainly nothing near typical for a five year-old.

But this was a five year-old with the mentality of someone closer to thirty, or at least twenty-five. Such were the results of accidental magic, when one willed themselves to _understand_ why something happened; _willed_ themself to find a way to get through an impossible situation.

Aiden was self-sufficient; she had been cooking for the Dursleys for a whole year, including buying their foods at the supermarket. She had also been doing all the housework – she knew how to wash the dishes, put her clothes in the washing machine, sort blacks from colours and hang them up… hell, she even knew how to budget and make sure that food wasn't inadvertently poisoned while preparing.

She just lacked the knowledge that came from attending school for close on thirteen years or more, depending if you went on to university.

As she was now, she'd managed to forge the Dursley's signatures to get her a pass into an accelerated program in the school that put her knowledge as that of a fourth year and still rising at an alarming rate. Having nothing to do but housework, studying, punishments and running away from Dudley and his gang would have that effect on a lot of people's education – she saw it as the sooner she finished it, the sooner she could get away from them.

It was the huge thing of losing her sight that had really knocked her back into acting her physical age because losing such a precious sense as sight would be crushing to anybody of any age.

She was just thankful that she could interpret the blackness as the 'real world' – otherwise she would be totally lost. Aiden guessed that the blackness helped her because of this 'magic' that Jason had told her about; it would also explain how she had been able to slip through those locked doors and walls to get out of her prison.

Aiden's flat black eyes slid closed, although it didn't make a difference in what she could 'see'.

She felt herself drifting off to sleep.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Piper drummed her fingers against the table. "Are you ready yet?"

Paige was just arriving in the room and she rolled her eyes, "Yes, Piper. Now, are you going to call Leo to look after Wyatt? Because I think Chris wants to come."

Piper frowned and glanced into the adjacent room to see that Chris was practically twitching from nervous tension. She then sighed, "Leo?"

Orbs manifested in front of her to revel Leo. He glanced around, "Going demon hunting?"

Piper jumped to her feet, "Yup. I need you to look after Wyatt for about an hour. Chris says this guy hasn't built up a base of support at the moment so he's vulnerable. It's the best chance we've got, and besides; Phoebe had a vision."

At this point Phoebe barrelled into the room, stopping at Paige's side. She handed around some potions that would work well for the lesser demons and put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, we ready to go? Cos I've got this thing later…"

Piper rolled her eyes but rested a hand on Paige's other shoulder, "Let's go. I wanna cook dinner later."

Chris jumped to his feet, "Ok, follow me." And he orbed out.

Paige quickly followed, and Leo was left with Wyatt.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

They arrived in a cavern that was lit with the obligatory 'creepy torches' that were flickering and adding to the general ambience that indicated they were probably in the underworld.

Phoebe grimaced, "Ok, I think I take back what I said about demons and originality. They have none when it comes to décor."

Piper rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, "HEY! BIG AND UGLY! COME ON OUT, WE'VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!"

Chris stared at Piper in disbelief, "You really think _that's_ the best way to find this guy?"

Demons started spilling out of a door off the cabin and Piper started exploding them while Paige and Phoebe threw potions.

"It worked, didn't it?"

Chris just pursed his lips.

In short order the grunts were down and they saw a tall and visibly muscled guy walk out from a different door. He seemed surprised but he conjured up and energy ball and threw it at their group.

They scattered and Piper tried to blow him up. He flew back, but didn't explode. "Er, I think this is big and ugly…"

Phoebe unfolded the paper and they gathered together before chanting the obligatory Power of Three spell to vanquish him.

He combusted in screams of pain.

Paige stared at the scorch mark and said, "Huh. That was actually pretty easy and anti-climactic considering…"

Piper glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes and said, "I guess so. Oh well, let's just get the kids back to their families, yeah?"

Chris glanced around at the numerous doors, "Er… any idea which one they might be in?"

The three witches froze and glanced around, noticing that there would probably be about thirty doors in the cavern. They all groaned.

"Looks like I spoke too soon about the 'easy' part." Paige scowled.

Piper glared at her before stalking over to a door and blowing it up, looking inside. "Ya think?"

**•◊ΰ◊•**

Aiden didn't know what woke her up at first, but after she became more aware of what the blackness was telling her, she sprang to her feet.

The sudden movement disrupted Jason, who she could 'see' rubbed his eyes before glancing around and spotting her running to the door.

She didn't know that he was surprised that she'd even _attempt_ to move, considering she couldn't see, but he quickly disregarded it – it could be just because she was a naïve child, right? Didn't she even consider what could happen if she hit a wall? He got up and ran after her either way, his voice managing to rouse most of the other boys, "Aiden! You shouldn't go running off! Merlin's balls, you can't even _see_!"

Aiden didn't listen because she knew something _they _didn't.

She didn't pay attention to the shocked expression of Jason and the others that were coherent enough to watch her 'slide' _through_ the piece of stone that she knew ran closest to where those four people were looking for them on the other side.

The first thing she did was drop to the floor to avoid the burst of violent sparkles that one of the women shot at her, and she could only be happy that the woman had shot too high to hit her in either case, obviously expecting someone taller.

"STOP!" Another of the women grabbed the first's hands and yanked them away from Aiden as the five year-old dropped to the ground to present a smaller target.

The four people stared at the child on the ground in shock, mainly because they had no idea where she had come from.

It was silent for a few moments, but this was broken when Aiden realised that chances of another attack were small – just like she got the creeping feeling of evil from those men who had brought her here, she got the feeling of 'good' or light from them – these people wouldn't harm her.

Aiden straightened up though kept her gaze trained on the ground, "H...have you come to save us from the bad men?" She asked in a small voice.

The woman who had shot the angry sparkles twitched and moved forward, reaching out.

Aiden swiftly sidestepped the woman, ducking under her reaching arms and moving to place herself against the cavern wall, misunderstanding the movement.

The woman froze and said, in a calming voice, "Shh, it's ok honey, we're the good guys. Those bad people aren't gonna hurt you ever again, ok?" The woman stepped towards the small girl more slowly, telegraphing the movement to not scare the small girl. "What's your name, honey?"

The girl flinched back from the contact at first, but stood still anyway and allowed the woman to wrap her arms around her in a comforting gesture. "I'm Aiden."

Aiden 'saw' the woman smile. "Well, I'm happy to meet you Aiden. I'm Piper, and behind me are my sisters, Paige and Phoebe, and that funny looking guy is called Chris."

Aiden 'saw' the people wave when Piper named them, and she couldn't help but allow her tense form to relax just a little bit into the hug – this was really the first she had experienced since her parents had died and she was way too young to remember that.

Piper moved back from the hug to stare Aiden in the eyes although the poor lighting hid the truth to the little girl's condition. "Aiden, do you know where the other children are?"

Aiden nodded and stumbled out of the awkward (for her) embrace. "They're in there." And she pointed at the clean stretch of wall behind her.

The adults were obviously puzzled. Piper expressed it, "Er… are you sure?"

Aiden nodded, "Yup. Come on!" And she span around and walked straight through the wall, much to the surprise of the witches in the cavern.

Chris moved forward and put a hand on the wall. "It's solid."

Paige frowned at the wall, "Well, we may as well check it out, huh? Grab on, I'll orb us in."

They orbed through the wall to be greeted by a confusing array of noise that seemed to centre around the small girl they had just met.

The tallest boy was saying, "What were you _thinking_? You could have gotten lost!"

Another boy cut over with a mutter, "_I_ want to know how she walked through the wall…"

The chattering continued there was only a few looking at them in wonder.

Phoebe whistled to get everyone's attention, "OK! What do you all say we get ya home, huh?"

The grins on the kid's faces made the last forty minutes looking through doors for them entirely worth it.

**•◊ΰ◊•**

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Meh, well I hope this lives up to peoples expectations, but I guess I'll see, huh? It might be a while till I update this again. – Skyflyte12


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